ABC Player Downloads Spike

Greys-Anatomy

Looking to generate advertiser interest prior to the upfront, ABC said its full-episode app for Apple devices has passed the 5 million mark in downloads. That’s up from the 3 million that ABC told MediaPost it had surpassed less than six months ago.

The ABC Player app was the first to offer ad-supported full episodes on an iPad. The iPhone and iPod Touch have since been added as options.

The free Player has also passed more than 100 million episode views as shows are made available the day after their network debut. ABC also said it has served about 400 million video ads since the April 2010 launch.

Not surprisingly, two years ago, “Modern Family,” “Lost” and “Dancing with the Stars” were among the top-five most-viewed series on the app. Joining them were the since-cancelled “V” and “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution."

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The app offers closed captioning and a “save and recall” opportunity that can be used across devices.

Disney also recently launched a similar free app for ABC Family programming, which has been downloaded more than 1 million times just since a March debut.

Disney has had a history of working with Apple on innovations, becoming the first network to offer full episodes for sale on iTunes in October 2005 -- a move that changed TV forever, making on-demand viewing a widely available option.

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